- The Chainlink founder was featured in Citibank’s recent report, which examined changes in the post-trade industry and digital assets.
- The bank notes that growing institutional interest is accelerating the development and maturity of the digital asset market.
In a recent report on the future of custody and settlement, Citibank put Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink Labs, in the spotlight, highlighting the growing importance of blockchain interoperability and data standardization in shaping the next era of global finance.
The report, entitled ‘The Evolution of Post-Trade: Real-Time Asset Servicing’, examines the transition to an ‘always-on’ financial system.
According to the report, the financial space is shifting to an ‘always-on’ model in which transactions, collateral transfers and settlements occur continuously rather than during fixed trading hours. A driving force for this is the adoption of digital assets.
Digital assets and interoperability
The report recognized that,
One of the biggest changes in the post-trade world is the institutional adoption of digital assets.
Digital assets scored as the category with the highest year-over-year positive delta in response to our business impact survey question, and the second most important category in absolute terms.
Digital assets are both part of the overall shift to real-time, ‘always on’ financial market infrastructure, and also represent a fundamental change in technology.
By 2025, 82% of survey respondents said distributed ledger technology (DLT) and digital assets could transform market structure, up from 72% in 2024. Key benefits highlighted include greater liquidity, improved collateral mobility and reduced post-trade processing costs. Nearly 90% of respondents mention these benefits, an increase from approximately 75% the year before.
Nazarov emphasized that as more platforms and institutions adopt on-chain solutions for posting collateral, the benefits of 24/7, 365 days a year collateral mobility will become increasingly apparent. He explained that to fully unlock this potential, the financial sector must adopt clear standards and reliable technologies that enable both secure on-chain data transmission and seamless interoperability between different blockchain networks.
This capability would allow collateral to move smoothly from one chain to another, ensuring real-time liquidity and risk management.
They also noted that regulatory changes, especially in the US, are playing a key role in supporting this transformation. Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency, the administration has taken a more industry-friendly and pro-growth stance toward digital assets.
This isn’t Citi’s first nod to Chainlink. In September, Chainlink Labs was also listed in Citibank’s “Securities Services Evolution 2025” report for its role in advancing interoperability standards between both public and private blockchain networks.
In the report, Sergey Nazarov highlights that fragmentation remains one of the sector’s biggest challenges. He explained that with millions of digital assets spread across thousands of different blockchains, achieving true interoperability is essential to creating scalable global markets.
Nazarov drew a parallel to the early days of the Internet, when isolated intranets were eventually unified through Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, opening up the modern digital landscape. Likewise, he argued, blockchain and oracle technology could lay the foundation for the next evolution of finance.
By enabling secure, seamless data and value transfer between blockchains and traditional financial systems, Chainlink helps accelerate the convergence of decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi) into a unified, efficient and programmable global financial ecosystem.
Chainlink is currently trading at $22.11 and has generated $1.05 billion in trading volume over the past day. With a market capitalization of $14 billion, it ranks 12th in the crypto rankings. The property is decrease of 3.72% on the day, reflecting market volatility.